PSN Community Spotlight – A Fine First Moment in Gaming

Hey fine folks; it’s time for the PSN Community Spotlight. For the unfamiliar, this is where PlayStation gamers tell their unique stories/experiences/thoughts, as submitted to this section in the PlayStation Community Forums. Those that make it all the way to the PlayStation Blog will receive a $50 PlayStation Store voucher.

Last week we asked for your PlayStation stories, and gamer zixpk wrote in to tell us about his first gaming memories (hint: It wasn’t on the PS3).

A Fine First Moment in Gaming

Yes. I know.

Another first gaming moment story.

*groan*

But, hey, my first gaming experience wasn’t at a friend’s house, or in a gaming store with all of the playable consoles and special deals. You want to know something outlandish? My first game wasn’t even Call of Duty (which I didn’t play until last year)! So, call me crazy, but I’ve never even played any ‘classic’ games. Yeah, I’ve missed out on the best of the best: Bioshock, MGS4, LBP1, and even all of the Final Fantasy’s. I’m obviously no ‘real’ gamer, at least in my mind. So, you ask or mumble, what was your first gaming experience then Mr. Chronologically Past Gaming Inexperienced? Boys and Girls…

“That’s right. The other portable gaming device.”

That’s right. The other portable gaming device. Of course, back in 2001 through 2005 or so, many new or casual gamers would play WHATEVER was pre-installed on their phones. I can remember battling it out with my siblings (verbally, of course) about who would get to play with Mom or Dad’s awesome’ _______the Adventurer Goes on a Daring Quest to ______’ sort of phone game. And then of course, there were the times when I would sit down for a super intense eyeball-melting-onto-the-LCD-screen sort of arcade experience (read: Snake) that I have come to know and love. It was the start of my passion for gaming.

And then, superflashfowardpastalloftheunessicaryhistoryofmy, *ahem* ‘gaming’ life.

The PS3 Slim.

I’m no sucker for good looks, but I am for a clearly well engineered piece of awesome. I knew I needed one from the first time I mistook a PS3slim for alien technology at my friend’s house. PlayStation was my savior from the well-trampled ground of Snake. Not that it’s a bad game and all, but, you know, after 4 years of it…

“I’m no sucker for good looks, but I am for a clearly well engineered piece of awesome.”

I got my first PS3 when I heard of LittleBigPlanet 2. I loved the first, and the fact that (at the time) 3 or so million levels were online: I had to get it. At the time I had saved up just enough money to buy a console and one game. It was too perfect. Except…

I live in China. As part of a Consulate family, I move every three years. So naturally, as far as luck goes, it only made sense that Amazon.com put on a Lithium Battery shipping ban spanning the same time it would take to ship the PS3 for my birthday or Christmas, effectively wiping out the joy of holiday/birthday shopping. But that wasn’t going to deter me from getting it. Enter summer vacation.

Every summer vacation is a 2 month joyride through the hottest months of the year, which I conveniently spend away from one of China’s hot and polluted cities. The moment I could get to a store, I bought the PS3 and LBP2. I remember sitting in the car with it on my lap, taking it into the living room of my grandparent’s house, and plugging it in. As all gamers and techies should know, it’s that first moment, the turning on of the first console you’ve ever owned that makes you think: “Yes. Tis Sweet Glory.” I spent my afternoons playing the first 20 or so levels, and fashioning a sack person to look like my grandparent’s dog.

In the end, I love it. I’m no full-on gamer, but hey! Stick a young man on a 15-hour plane ride to China with his soon to be favorite console and an instant classic game and call him a gamer, for everything the moment’s worth. So, thank you PlayStation!

Happy Halloween Community!

Thanks for writing in zixpk!
Next week we want to hear more general stories about the PlayStation brand. Click here to check out more info on this call to action.

10 Comments

I had my beginnings with the SNES. Though, I guess that’s not worthy to talk about in here, right? Anyways, I would like to ask anyone who works on the PS Store to have The Legend of Dragoon accessible from the Vita’s Store. I would like to download it directly from PSN with my Vita, that’s is all I ask right now. Thanks.

Haha, finally a unique and entertaining community story. I really enjoyed how you switched up the sentence structure and added humor to it.

Personally my first ‘gaming experience’ was on the NES as a kid at my grandparent’s. From then on it’s been an ever-growing hobby and I’ve loved every generation of consoles ever since.

Funny that you mention LBP though (Apart that LBP doesn’t seem too popular in the China/Japan regions). I actually went through a dry spell with gaming for a few years after playing on the PS1/PS2, partly because the PS3 was too expensive at launch. You could say I lost that spark that made me a gamer. Anyway, once I got a PS3 in ’09, LBP1 kind of rekindled my passion for video games. I found myself playing everyday trying to collect every prize bubble.

This is a truly great story. The first systems that I ever played games on were the Atari 2600 and Colecovision. When I was a kid, my parents wouldn’t let us have a game system because they thought it was a waste of resources. So I used to long for those weekends that I could spend at my cousin’s house where they had an Atari 2600 and a Colecovision. When I was 14, I saved up my money from mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling snow, and countless other odd jobs. One summer morning, when my parents were away, I rode my bike to the local K-Mart and picked up the 8-bit NES, which at the time was the crown jewel of video game systems. I will never forget turning on the system and playing Super Mario Bros. for the first time. I remember thinking that it would never get any better than this! I also managed to keep it a secret from my parents for a rather long time. When they sent me to my room, they thought I would be lying on the bed sulking. Little did they know that I was actually sitting there playing my Nintendo! When they found out about it, however, they were none too happy.